Laserfiche WebLink
Compact Water <br />The District is typically able to store a small amount of water in Platoro Reservoir (approximately <br />1,000 acre-feet) from January through March. Although the Division 3 Engineer typically applies <br />a 100 percent curtailment of water diversions on the Conejos River during this period (including <br />diversions into storage at Platoro), there is an agreement (dated 1993) between the State and the <br />District that allows storage in Platoro with the understanding that the State can require this water <br />to be released later to help meet Colorado's Compact delivery obligations. This storage is <br />explicitly considered "Compact water," that is, it may be held in storage by the District until such <br />time that the State either requires a release for Compact purposes, or makes all or a portion <br />available for water users on the Conejos River. <br />Forty (40) percent of any Compact water held in storage in Platoro Reservoir at the end of the <br />year carries over to the next year, i.e. the State may request that this water be released to help <br />meet Compact obligations. The remaining 60 percent of the Compact water reverts to the District <br />who makes it available to Conejos irrigators. The agreement that allows Compact water storage <br />in Platoro provides additional flexibility in managing water deliveries to meet Compact delivery <br />requirements and is potentially beneficial to Colorado and Conejos River water users. <br />Platoro Storage Decree <br />Platoro Reservoir has its own storage water right for 53,571 acre-feet, but the right is quite junior <br />in priority (1973 appropriation). The District can occasionally store under the 1973 right <br />beginning in late May or early June. As described above, storage is limited to times when the <br />Compact requirements are being met day-to-day. Generally speaking, when this junior water <br />right is in priority the Compact requirements are usually being met. Water stored under the 1973 <br />right is considered District water, and the District has made releases out of its "General Pool" <br />since the later 1980s. Releases of District water made from the General Pool may be used on any <br />lands within the District. A shrinkage from 10 to 15 percent is applied to all General Pool <br />deliveries to account for transportation losses between Platoro and the ditch headgates. <br />Direct Flow Storage <br />In 1994, a decree was issued in Case No. 90CW048 allowing storage in Platoro Reservoir under <br />direct flow rights owned by numerous ditches along the Conejos River and Rio San Antonio. The <br />decree has several important terms and conditions related to storing direct flow rights, and there is <br />a shrinkage loss (10 to 15 percent) applied when the water is released from storage. Water stored <br />under direct flow rights must be used on the same lands served by the direct flow rights. Any <br />water stored under direct flow rights remaining in storage at the end of the irrigation season <br />reverts to the District and is booked into their General Pool. Since the direct flow storage decree <br />was issued, an average of 15 ditches have participated in the program each year. The District's <br />guidelines for participation in the program are provided as Attachment 2. <br />Storage by Exchange <br />Another decree issued in 1994 in Case No. 90CW047 allows the District to exchange water from <br />the Closed Basin Project and the Norton Drain into storage in Platoro Reservoir. The decree <br />effectively allows storage in Platoro when it would otherwise have to bypass or release water to <br />meet Compact obligations. The decree allows fora "non-real-time exchange" such that the <br />exchange amount is based on annual rather than instantaneous Closed Basin Project and Norton <br />C:Acdss\CWCD.doc Conejos Water Conservancy District Interview June 22, 1999 -Page 3 of 5 <br />